Tsuchitori was born in 1950 in Tadotsu, Kagawa. He was introduced to music through percussion, and began playing festival taiko at a young age. As a teen, he played modern jazz in Osaka.
In the early 1970s, he started his career as an avant-garde jazz percussionist and came to collaborate with Kondō Toshinori, Takagi Mototeru, Oki Kano, and others. He has also performed with dancers such as Ōno Kazuo and musicians from outside the country including Derek Bailey and Milford Graves.[2] Beginning in 1976, Tsuchitori composed theatrical scores for the works of Peter Brook.[3]
From 1988 to 1998, Tsuchitori produced and performed in the "Ryūkō Gakusha Festival" every summer, an event featuring performances based on local folk tales and legends of Mino Province. Musicians and dancers were invited from across the country.
He is currently researching the songs left by musicians of the Meiji and Taishō eras, particularly Soeda Azenbō but also including Hisada Kiseki, Iboshi Hokuto, and Nagai Yoshi. Tsuchitori has done live performances of Azenbō's songs as well as uploaded numerous recordings of the songs to his YouTube page.[6]
